R is for Ronnebeck!

I always have an excitement inside of me for comicon, Not even a crowd this size can deter me from going year after year! We (Team Eric, Lee & Abby) got there around 9 and hung out in line for awhile. The crowd was pretty light at first, but I had a feeling most of the people standing in front of us has been there for quite some time. The below shot is from the side, we were only about 6 or 8 people back.  We went in the door and did our best to get out of the way. We didn't really have any "goals" this year, and had no need to be at anyone's table first. It was kind of a luxuary. Right out of the gate Eric got this picture with a very well dressed Cobra Commander (GIJOE). He gave Eric a button that said "Cobra Commander for President" So it was definitely worth the stop! We had a few people we wanted to see - and since Eric had gone on Friday, he had a few sketches to pick up from artists who had worked on them overnight. The art post is up

My hairband is made... my Xmen shirt has been dug out of the closet, my Guide book app is completely filled with "To Do"'s for tomorrow, and I'm off to the Comicon! But first... Study time... Blech.

 1 | Blogger has changed up how I post on the back end, I'm not sure how I feel about it, It's too space-age-y. I feel like I'm way more professional of a blogger than I actually am, and really, how can that be a good thing? 2 | Friday is Comicon. Did you hear that? COMICON! I am so freaking excited! I totally plan on nabbing a few pieces of art from some artists that are there. I can't wait to see what I walk away with, but I'm hoping something that looks like this Batgirl drawing by Amy Mebberson. She's fantastic :) 3 | I managed to find 2 whole study hours at work today. I'm feeling pretty excellent about it! 4 | My Physical Therapist is having me work with a balance board. I gained some pretty great balance with Derby and learning to skate, but I'm not so sure that I have enough to successfully improve my knee via the balance board, but I trust her, so we'll just keep our fingers crossed and see what happens! 5 | I hate being &

 I have been scouting a new point and shoot camera for quite awhile. It's for those times when you're not purposely taking photos, but you're at an event where you'd like to take A photo that has better resolution than your phone. I bit the bullet on Friday and bought a new Sony Cybershot. I had it narrowed down between that and a Canon Powershot, when I discovered that the Sony could do this...  Hello Panorama! When I bought it I thought - Oh that might come in handy for a few shots here and there, but after using it a little bit I kind of want to shoot EVERYTHING in panorama! It was great to hang out with Kat this morning, she graded papers, and I worked on my Series 7. Life is good. Let's just say... New camera + Roller Derby = Happy! I somehow caught Megan in the corner of that one... It also shows the President and CEO of my company enjoying the game - It was so fun to hang out with some co-workers and share the passion I have for this game! Sending he

 I'm "Wallpapering" my online presence today with Relay! It dawned on me that I am but a mere 3 months till Relay and I hadn't started my fundraising process at all! So I'll just start it now - Please consider a donation to Relay for Life ! It's no secret who I relay for - Momma. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't wish she was here. There's such a hole in my life where she fits so snuggly which now sits only with a warm memory of her.  When she was diagnosed in 2009 I had these shirts made for our family! We still wear them proudly! It was so cool to see nearly 60 shirts out on the track last year at Watertown's Relay for Life!  Relay has been a big part of our fight for Mom. It was my way of supporting her from miles away, and it has grown into 3 separate teams with people walking in her honor in 3 separate cities! Watertown ,South Dakota Rapid City, South Dakota Des Moines, Washington Donate to one, donate to all, we'd

My brother just kind of chuckles at me and my fluffy little dog. We grew up with the worlds best Black Lab - Sam. She was a dedicated hunter second, a family dog first. She was amazing at both things. When Tony moved out of the house he bought Kohl (his current dog), he trained her to be an even better hunting dog then Sam. Black lab's run in my family, and when Eric and I started talking about dogs early in our relationship my answer was obvious - I want a black lab. Unfortunately for me, I live in a city and large dogs and apartments don't really jive. So, we went with Eric's favorite - a Shih Tzu. I totally fell head over heels for my little fluff ball, and my brother often jokes about my "half a dog". I thought of Tony today when Eric and Aquaman came home from the pet store with Aquaman's new toy. Why it's a South Dakota Ring-Necked Pheasant! I think he mostly loves the fact that it makes a really obnoxious sound, but I thought it was pretty perfect f

 Having a weekend off was exactly what the doctor ordered.  Saturday Morning we went to Blue Vanilla to have a cup of coffee and a treat. I opted for the green velvet cupcake.  Note to self : Green food coloring is pure evil. But it was fun to eat a St. Patties day colored food.  No corned beef and cabbage for us, but we wore green!  We ate burgers at home after a day of organizing and taking the dog for a walk! Good.  Lazy.. Refreshing. Today I went with Kat to South Center and got myself some wonderful organizational tools for my Relay for Life stuff.  I have found that I have to haul a whole crap ton of stuff for each meeting. This little cart I have from my Derby bag was really what the doctor ordered. I have it all stowed neatly away so we can find it again! I am totally thrilled with it! I also took the time to organize my Series 7 stuff.  Back to the books!

I failed. Well, my boss says... I didn't fail, I just didn't pass this time. It's hard to not let the f word escape my lips because it feels like failure.  Eric let me cry, then, we went and got coffee, had lunch, and bought me some new shoes and toys. Retail Therapy is a beautiful thing.  I am going to take the weekend, enjoy. Get a few things out of my system, like crafting, reading and relaxing, then, I'm back to the books to pass this test!  As a side note? Eric saw these toys online a couple weeks ago and I found them in Target today - reminding myself to be my own superhero. I can do it! For now, I'm going to go lick my wounds, and eat my piece of 6 layer Red Velvet cake. Watch out Series 7 - I'm coming for you, and this time, Its personal.

Tomorrow I go in to test my fate against the Series 7 Gods. I have put in nearly 200 hours worth of study time, and I'm just hoping it's all stuck upstairs somewhere! I'm taking tonight to relax, eat a good meal, watch some TV and get a good nights rest. I will NOT cram. I refuse to cram - at this point, if I don't know it, I don't know it. The Series 7 exam, for those of you that are not familiar with it - The test is 6 hours in duration, 2 sections, 3 hours per section with a minimum of a 30 minute break. It's a test that will put me on the road to becoming a licensed securities representative (along with the Series 66 which comes next). In the industry, it's every one's Mt. Everest. Most of us have been through it at one point in time or another. 54% of the people who take the test pass the first time. I hope to be among that 54%. One of my commuter buddies prayed with me tonight. TC held my hands and prayed for me. She kept telling me that God

I ran across this photographer today. Her name is Raina Matar and one of the projects she did was "A girl and her room". It totally captivates me, for whatever reason. It's inspiring, and sorry Eric, but it kind of makes me want my own room again. I remember my room in high school and jr high being such a sanctuary. Check out her portfolio - it's awesome!

1| Frick, it's Tuesday of test week. I feel as ready as I'm going to be for the monster in my life I call the Series 7. There is equal parts of fear, loathing and desperation in my mind and body right now. 2| My life is seriously boring, that's a) why I haven't been typing here in quite some time, and b) feel like I have NOTHING to type whatsoever. 3| I have made a "bucket list" of things I want or need to do once the Series 7 exam is past, it's a growing, scary hairy list that I so badly want to start working on. Just need a 72... everyone pray for a 72! 4| Eric's been good without me around. He's taken to cooking me delicious food so I don't starve my body. 5| Aquaman is seriously jealous of all the time I spend at the library. The moment I get home he will not leave my side. 6| This weekend (pass or fail) Kat and I are going to check out the Cherry Trees at UW. I am so excited! 7| Pass or fail ... Eric and I are going to go on a

I really REALLY didn't want to admit to this. But I picked up this book and for the first time in my 160 + hours of studying I don't feel like a complete Option Strategy moron! I can say that the STC book given to me by my work is pretty decent study material, I just needed something, ANYTHING to dumb down options trading for me. If I were to do this whole thing over again I would probably have buckled down right away and stuck to a study schedule and not drag it out for 7 months, but I'll give myself a pass since I don't intend to do that with the next two tests. I feel a little relieved today that I finally made heads or tails of Options (kind of) and I am not quite dreading my study time for the next week, but I'll be pretty absent here (more so than normal) because I am T-7 days!

 I can't believe it's only Wednesday! This week has been kind of crazy! A normal week entails one, maybe two after work activities, but tonight marks my third night in a row of activity, and I'm beat! Monday night I met with Joanne to discuss Relay - I love the connections Relay brings in my life. I am excited to get to know Joanne better - she is pretty cool!  Tuesday was our monthly Relay meeting which means Relay from 5-10 (more or less).  Today - Physical Therapy (See above). Lori (my PT) beat the crap out of my muscles, and then put me on ice and electrodes. I think they give us the electrodes to massage our muscles so we won't kill them. I don't hold it personally to her, but man does my leg hurt! She "Combed" my muscles, and I don't know about you, but I rarely "COMB" my hair, because it hurts, let alone my muscles. I am kind of hoping that I get a nasty bruise from it just so I have something to show for it. On the plus side? I got

 This weekend allready seems like I've done a TON - assure you, I really haven't... but it feels good to be a little accomplished. It's 12:30, I'm taking a break. I've been at the library since 10 studying Options, and my brain feels a little leaky. I almost feel like if I remove the earplugs that I use to drown out the sound I will end up cleaning my brain off the carpet. I'm sorry that's pretty graphic. It doesn't really help that the people I talk to about Options say ... "you wont' need to use them past the Series 7 exam". Thanks! That makes this so much more frustrating! I left work on Friday a little frazzled. I have a whole "to do" list to accomplish when I get to work Monday, which is both kind of riveting, and defeating considering I had just spent 8 hours there and didn't manage to complete much of anything off that list. Oh well. The world turns, and really? My complaints are null in comparison to some of the othe